MOSCOW, Dec. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov declared Monday the ambition to develop the country's strategic nuclear forces, particularly some advanced strategic missile systems, the Interfax news agency reported.

    "We will upgrade the Topol-M systems and the entire strategic nuclear component" to improve the quality and efficiency, the minister said at a meeting which President Vladimir Putin held with the participation of Cabinet members.

    The minister reported to Putin that a regiment, armed with Topol-M strategic missile systems, was put on duty Sunday in Russia's southwest region of Saratov.

    The system, with a payload of up to 1.2 tons, is "the most advanced strategic missile systems produced in Russia" and enables the "fully combat ready" regiment to "meet all the demands and criteria of the Defense Ministry," said Ivanov.

    The minister plans to inform the president about specific areas for developing Russia's nuclear forces in early 2004.

    Russia has started designing a new intercontinental ballistic missile with up to ten nuclear warheads, and will begin work next year on a new liquid-fuel missile, according to Interfax.

    The new missile is designed to has a payload of up to four tons, which is three times the payload of the solid-fuel Topol-M missile, a source from the Russian Armed Forces General Staff said.

    The new missile will be commissioned after 2009.

    Putin said at a conference at the Defense Ministry in early October that Russia stored dozens of UR-100H UTTH missiles capable of carrying several hundred nuclear warheads and defeating sophisticated missile defense systems.

    Although Russia and the United States promised to slash their deployed nuclear arsenals by about two-thirds by 2012 under the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT). The accord also allows the signatories to keep significant reserves of such missiles.

    Russia has made "a number of breakthroughs" in developing new 21st century weapons and will do everything to maintain the momentum, Putin said. Enditem